Casual Affection
by aemelia113
Summary: Chat Noir is a very physically affectionate, touchy person. Marinette loves this about him, but her kitty could stand to be a little more subtle about showing it in front of other people- especially her classmates. (I'm so enamored of this ship someone SAVE ME) Fluff. Oneshot.


A/N: Hello, gentle readers! Prepare for an onslaught of Marichat fluff. I've decided to post a bunch of un-beta'd works from my files, so here you go! Disclaimer: I don't own ML or any associated characters. Secondary disclaimer: I'm such trash for this ship and I'm sorry that basically everything I post is about it. I sincerely apologize, but they're just such fun to write! Onwards and upwards!

 **One thing Marinette had learned about Chat Noir since he'd started turning up on her balcony was that he was a very affectionate person.**

 **When they were sitting together on her chaise, talking, he would either butt his head up against her hand to encourage her to pet him or rub her neck in soothing circles, scratching her shoulders gently with his claws. When she was sketching at her desk, he would lean over her shoulder, chin gently resting there with his cheek pressed against hers, watching silently as she drew with the occasional comment about how good her design was.**

 **Once her parents found out about him visiting, he would sit so close to her on the couch that his leg was draped over hers while they played Mecha Strike with Tom. The Dupain-Chengs had been surprisingly accepting of their daughter's leather-clad sort-of-boyfriend who acted like an actual cat. They were always trying to feed him and pestering Marinette to bring "that sweet boy" over more often.**

 **Once, when there was a big order that Marinette had to help with before she could hang out with Chat, he jumped in to help, wearing an apron over his costume. Marinette split her sides laughing at how silly he looked with flour all over his claws and frosting on his nose. Half Paris' superhero duo covered in baking ingredients and wearing a pink apron was a sight to behold. Somehow, he managed to use even this as an opportunity to get close to her. When he worked beside Marinette, he stood so near that their sides brushed when they breathed.**

 **Chat sometimes took her out on the town for their little "dates" instead of staying in the loft or the bakery, and he would always be holding her hand as they walked, positively beaming at the tiny fashion designer on his arm. His dopey smile whenever they got all cuddly in public was contagious and neither one could help but grin the entire time. He had taken her to all the best landmarks at least once to sit together on the highest reaches curled into each other's sides, typically with a small picnic packed by Marinette's enthusiastic parents.**

 **As Ladybug, Marinette frequently had to keep a blush off her face when Chat gushed about his "good friend Marinette." How talented she was, how kind, how smart, how brave and beautiful. Luckily, he seemed to interpret her few red-faced slip-ups as jealousy rather than embarrassment. Chat was not quite as cozy with Ladybug as far as physical affection went (probably because she kept pushing him away by the nose before he'd mostly given up on any serious flirting) but he still thought nothing of casual touches to the small of her back or throwing an arm around her shoulders in camaraderie. She found herself having to hold back from snuggling closer while she was in the mask.**

 **Chat and Marinette hadn't really made anything official, and they hadn't kissed or anything, but it was sort of unspoken but understood that the "I love you's" they exchanged had more meaning than "just friends." It was comfortable, this relationship they had. Neither really thought to hide it, but it had never really come up, so Marinette hadn't mentioned it to her friends and the public at large had no idea that Chat was smitten with a civilian. Until one day when an akuma attacked the school and Marinette's class was barricaded in Madame Bustier's room, sans Adrien, plus Chat.**

 **Marinette and Chat stood behind a desk, side by side, peering down at a map of the school, trying to figure out how to escape the room without wasting Cataclysm and get the students out.**

 **"** **Okay, so there's an entrance to the vents here that people my size or smaller could fit through, and there aren't too many junctions or turns so it should be easy to remember how to get to the external exit from the air duct," Chat said, tapping that possible exit point with a claw.**

 **"** **True, but people like Kim, Ivan, and Madame Bustier would still be trapped. What about the window?" Marinette suggested.**

 **"** **Hmm. That could work if I let everyone slide down my baton to the ground and then was the last one out. But I thought that the latches were locked and that only janitorial staff had the keys."**

 **"** **Rose is great at picking locks," Marinette pointed out. "I'm sure we could rustle up a hair pin and a paperclip and she might be able to work with that. Could you do that, Rose?"**

 **"** **Of course! I always lock myself out of places and it seemed safer to teach myself to pick locks than to leave a spare key lying around where anyone could get in," she explained.**

 **"** **Fantastic!" Chat praised. "So you can get to work on that and then we'll get out of here fireman style. Great thinking, Princess."**

 **"** **Thanks, Chat. Once we have everybody out, they can pair off and go to the closest homes in groups and take shelter there until the attack is over."**

 **"** **Hold up," Alya called, raising a hand. She gestured at the lack of space between Chat and Marinette. "What is this?"**

 **Marinette glanced down to see Chat's belt tail curled around her hip and wrapped around her leg. "Hmm? Oh, his tail just does that sometimes. It has a mind of its own, I swear."**

 **"** **Not the tail, although we can come back to that. I meant** ** _this_** **," Alya emphasized, waving a hand more broadly at the pair still half bent over the school plans. When they still looked confused, she facepalmed and sighed, "Princess?"**

 **"** **It's a nickname. Back from when she worked with me on the Evillustrator case," Chat explained, blushing pink. "It just kinda stuck."**

 **"** **Marinette. You've worked with Chat Noir and didn't tell me?" she practically screeched.**

 **"** **It never came up," she defended with a shrug. "Chat's a friend. I didn't think it was that big of a deal."**

 **"** **You did an awful lot of swooning when we first met for something that's not that big of a deal," Chat teased.**

 **"** **If I had known it would give you such a big head, I would have dialed it back," she huffed with a roll of her eyes.**

 **"** **You know you love me." Chat waggled his eyebrows.**

 **She snorted a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. I do, you goofy furball." She chucked him under the chin and startled a purr out of him.**

 **When they faced front again, the entire class was staring at them gape-mouthed. Rose had paused in her work at the window, but she shook herself and got back to it.**

 **"** ** _What_** **?" Chat and Marinette huffed in unison.**

 **"** **Are you two dating?" Nino asked.**

 **"** **Um, well, I mean," Marinette stammered.**

 **"** **That is to say- What I think... er- it's uh..." Chat coughed.**

 **"** **We haven't really talked about it," Marinette managed. "But I uh, we're- we're very... close."**

 **"** **I haven't had the guts to ask her yet, but obviously I'd be honored," Chat added. "She's amazing."**

 **Marinette's face was on fire. "You're the superhero, Kitty. But, uh, I do say yes. That is, if you're asking, I mean."**

 **"** **Really?" he asked with a grin.**

 **"** **Really," she confirmed, smiling shyly.**

 **"** **Then I'm asking. May I kiss you, Marinette?"**

 **"** **You may," she giggled.**

 **And right there and then he swept her up and planted a smooch right on her mouth and they broke apart when they heard a faint click and Rose announced that she'd gotten the latch open. Chat helped everyone to ground level with Marinette at his side.**

 **Alya went down last before the two of them and hissed in Marinette's ear, "We have a lot to talk about, Mari. Also, the LadyNoir shippers on my blog will be very heartbroken."**

 **Marinette turned and pecked Chat on the lips before sliding down and called out as he leapt toward the chaos on the other side of the building, "Go get 'em, Kitty!" Then she turned and ducked behind a bush to transform and go help her boyfriend battle evil.**

 **Best. Akuma attack. Ever.**


End file.
